Day of the Jackal: Fans call out major issue with ‘excellent’ spy thriller series

Day of the Jackal is the show that we can’t stop talking about at the moment. Starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, who also serves as an executive producer, the story follows a world class assassin and a MI6 agent determined to bring him down. 

While the show has received excellent reviews and viewers appear to be loving it, many took to X to discuss one major flaw with the show – that none of the characters are nice enough to root for!

While Eddie’s character Charles is a ruthless killer, with the opening scenes showing him killing several people in order to ultimately assassinate a politician, Lashana’s character Bianca goes to drastic lengths to track him down, including manipulating a mother, Alison, into complying with her instructions while hiding that her daughter has died in prison. 

One person posted: “What I like about Day of the Jackal is that I am rooting for absolutely no one, every character is despicable, and that’s a fair reflection of the current climate.” 

Another person complained about Lashana’s character, MI6 agent Bianca, writing: “#DayOfTheJackal is enjoyable but the character of Bianca is so annoying. Wish writers would realise strong, intelligent female characters don’t have to be obnoxious with a superiority complex. Please, a little less hubris!” 

© Marcell Piti/SKY/Carnival

Despite the characters being put under scrutiny by viewers, James Bond star Lashana has spoken about her Bianca’s motivations, telling the Radio Times: “She’s in a male-dominated space, albeit with a female boss and a black man by her side, but none of those things are there to protect her.”

© Marcell Piti/SKY/Carnival

She continued: “Bianca doesn’t know how to be the best, ask for the most, but also bring back the goods at the end of the day. It’s the feeling that she might do that drives her. That level of destruction is what carries her through.”

Speaking about the shades of grey in the show, Eddie added: “What’s intriguing about this moment in time is that the second you think you’ve got a grip on what someone’s morality is, it shifts. We all have that blurry territory within us in some ways – that idea of the binary of good and evil doesn’t exist so much.”